At the beginning of Miles Corwin’s book, And Still We Rise, he includes the Proverbs 13:12 quote, “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.” To me, hope differs from desire because hope is a feeling one has if they feel there is a possibility of change or growth. Hope does not have to be specific. On the other hand, desire can only truly come if there is hope, and tends to be about a specific thing. I believe Corwin included this proverb because in writing about Crenshaw High School, he saw a demonstration of how when students who had no hope for the future are offered a chance to change and grow, they develop desires and goals for the future. For instance, in Toya’s case, her life seemed hopeless because her mother died and she herself had a child (Corwin). It is easy to imagine that she had little hope for herself in getting a good education or job because she has no family support and so much time and effort for her went into motherhood. However, by being recognized as gifted and having the support offered by the school, Toya can look beyond the moment and begin to desire better things for herself and her child.
An American feminist, educator, and author, bell hooks began her education during the era of segregation and desegregation. To hooks, an essential element of hope is having an open mind. She says, “As teachers we believe that learning is possible, that nothing can keep an open mind from seeking after knowledge and finding a way to know” (Burke). She transcended the negativity in life by keeping her love of learning alive and persisting in learning no matter what her obstacles were. One piece of advice she would give the teachers in And Still We Rise is that they must be examples for their students. To emphasize this, she says that teachers must be “committed to a process of self-actualization that promotes their own well-being if they are to teach in a manner that empowers students” (Burke). This seems obvious after thinking about it, because the students can see teachers as role-models of success, as people who are doing something they love to do, who are encouraging others to think with an open mind as they strive to keep open minds themselves.
Works Cited
Burke, Barry. bell hooks on education. Infed, 2004. Web.
Corwin, Miles. And Still We Rise: The Trials and Triumphs of Twelve Gifted Inner-City Students. William Morrow, 26 Apr. 2000. Print.
